Additional Information

1 track CD-R of the Q101 master that was given to them by Billy Corgan prior to the farewell concert of the Smashing Pumpkins. This CD was one of three copies that was won in a competition run by the Q101 radio station for the first three people to answer a Smashing Pumpkins question correctly. This item also comes complete with the original Q101 jiffy bag envelope. Semi-official, but very rare as there are only 3 copies. We set the release date to 2000/12/09, the date on the envelope (NOV is a mistake, it was DEC since the track Untitled was aired on 11/29 for the first time, at the same time the competition took place).

One of our trustworthy sources digged the following information from his Archives:

“”Untitled” was recorded in Chicago in late November by leader Billy Corgan and the remaining original members of the group, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Touring bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, who replaced original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky, did not play on the song.

The swaying acoustic rock track debuted November 29 on Chicago alternative station Q101 (WKQX-FM) and later streamed on the station’s site exclusively for a month. Now more than 50 stations have played the melancholy swan song – which was not commercially available at the time – according to a spokesperson for the band.

Dave Richards, program director of Q101, said Corgan called him a few days before the Pumpkins’ November 29 show at Chicago’s United Center to discuss plans for a simulcast of that show.

“I went down to the studio, and he said, ‘I have something I want to play for you,’ ” Richards said. “I had no idea they were working on new songs. He played it for me, and I asked if it was from one of the [album] sessions, and he said, ‘No, we just finished it yesterday.’ ” Corgan sent over a master of the song two days later, and Q101 debuted it on air just before the United Center show.

The track follows the patented loud-quiet dynamics that were the group’s calling card on such multiplatinum albums as Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and the 1993 breakthrough Siamese Dream.

“When you’re young/ You can promise/ Anything that you wanted/ To be in love/ To feel love/ All around,” Corgan sings in a hurried, joyful flow. As it fades out, “Untitled” crashes to earth with what is, in all likelihood, the final screaming Pumpkins guitar solo from Corgan.

The posting of the song on Q101’s Web site is in keeping with the band’s Web-centric final days. A sequel to last year’s MACHINA/the Machines of God was released in September to the Web only. Twenty-five copies of Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music were distributed to fans and friends, packaged as three 10-inch EPs and one double 12-inch LP along with instructions to distribute the songs free online. The tunes have surfaced on various Web sites, FTP servers and on Napster.”